April 2014

Greg Wilcox extends lead at the top after successful trip down under

With less than a week until the first major European event of the 2014 season, the first OK Dinghy World Ranking List of the year shows little change from the last release in December 2013, though there are a few significant moves after the down under circuit.

Following a win at the Interdominion Championship in Melbourne, Australia in December/January, Greg Wilcox (NZL), has slightly extended his lead at the top. He won the title from Mark Jackson (AUS), who is the biggest climber from 15th to sixth, and Luke O'Connell (NZL) who jumps from 20th to 13th after a great summer season. Jackson also took the Australian title in the same week.

However, before that was Sail Melbourne. This was won by Mike Williams, who moves up from 16th to 11th, and then Jackson and Mark Skelton (AUS). Next up was OceanBridge Sail Auckland, with the OK Dinghies having the largest fleet at the event with 33 entries. This was won by O'Connell from Ben Morrison (NZL) and Matt Stechman (NZL).

The final ranking event was the New Zealand National Championship, just a few weeks ago, which had the same podium as Sail Auckland, with O'Connell winning from former champion Morrison and Stechman in third.

At 1030 points, Wilcox is within three points of the all time points record, which has been held by third placed Nick Craig (NZL) for some time. With the European season just starting he has a great chance to set a new record in the coming months.

The Danes are as usual pushing the top though with Stefan Myralf (DEN), holding onto second, and Jørgen Svendsen (DEN) in fourth.

The first major event of the season is the Spring Cup in Medemblik over a long weekend from 2-4 May, which has so far attracted a pre-entry of 56 boats. Always a popular venue for the OK Dinghy class, it should be a great opener for the packed season ahead. Looking further afield, the Europeans will be held at Steinhude Meer in Germany in July, with the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia in December.